Jackie Hill Perry at Passion 2025: Why misplacing hope leads to idolatry, how resurrection restores it
Jackie Hill Perry warned thousands gathered at Passion 2025 of the dangers of refusing hope and why misplacing it leads to idolatry, emphasizing the resurrection of Jesus Christ as the ultimate foundation of hope.
In a message titled “In Defense of Hope” and delivered to those gathered at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, on Jan. 7, Perry opened with a courtroom analogy, personifying hope as a defendant on trial, accused by the world, the flesh and Satan.
“Hope is on trial because stuff like flesh, the world, and Satan have made it where hope is no longer trusted,” the 35-year-old speaker, author and podcast host said. “We look at hope and we despise it. We hear its arguments and we suck our teeth and roll our eyes because, truth be told, when we needed hope to do what we thought it promised us it would do, it let us down.”
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Perry reflected on her personal struggles with hope, revealing it has often felt harder to grasp than faith. “Christians, we love talking about faith, about belief, about trust. We know that without faith, it is impossible to please God,” she said. “But hope? I feel like we don’t discuss that enough, and we should.”
Quoting Hebrews 11:1, she explained how faith and hope are intertwined. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, meaning faith and hope are not the same thing, but you cannot have faith without having hope,” Perry said. “Your faith is a confident expectation that the blood [of Christ] does actually work. It is hope because you can’t see it.”
The Gay Girl, Good God author addressed the deep disappointment many feel when their hopes are unmet. “When our hope in God doesn’t produce the results that we hope for, we put God on the stand alongside hope and accuse Him of not being Himself,” she said. “Our disappointment starts to change our mind about God: He must not be faithful. He must not be good.”
Perry connected this struggle with hope to the Garden of Eden, noting that Satan’s first act of deception was accusing God of withholding goodness. “Satan is not just an accuser of the brethren. He is first and foremost an accuser of God,” she said. “And if you are anything like me, you have had seasons where it is easier to believe what Satan has to say about God than what Jesus has revealed.”
In a poignant moment, Perry shared a childhood memory of waiting for her father, who failed to show up as promised. “I think that was the moment I made the conscious decision to never let anybody let me down again,” she said. “Even now, excitement is a trigger word because it implies that I actually have hope.”
She connected this personal wound to the larger human struggle with trusting God. “The experiences you’ve had with people who let you down — your mother, your father, your friend — don’t think these are not also showing up in how you do life with God,” she said.
Perry warned of the dangers of refusing hope. “Do you know what’s threatened when you refuse hope? Your endurance,” she said. “And do you know what inevitably will happen to you if you refuse hope? You will become an idolater.”
Using the story of the golden calf in Exodus, Perry described how misplaced hope leads to idolatry. “Every idol you have ever constructed is because you hoped it could be God for you,” she said. “You ask God for comfort, but it seems like the bottle answered your prayer quicker than the Spirit did.”
Perry emphasized the importance of memory in sustaining hope. “Hope moves in two directions,” she said. “It is hard to trust that God can do a thing tomorrow when you don’t remember what He did yesterday.”
She cited the story of David and Goliath as an example of hope rooted in God’s past faithfulness. “David said, ‘The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.’ David didn’t have a memory problem,” Perry said.
Perry closed her message by pointing to the resurrection of Jesus Christ as the ultimate foundation of hope. “Our hope completely hinges on the fact that God is able to make dead things alive again,” she said. “If Christ is alive, then you have hope.”
She added a quote from theologian Tim Keller: “If Jesus Christ really got up, everything will be all right.”
Perry’s final words called the audience to place their hope firmly in God, despite life’s disappointments. Quoting Psalm 42, she said, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him.”
Part one of Passion 2025 was held Jan. 2-4, with part two held Jan. 6-8. The theme of this year's conference is "For His Renown" and featured founder Louie Giglio, Sadie Robertson Huff, Levi Lusko, Jonathan Pokluda and others.
“Rooted in the confession of Isaiah 26:8, Passion exists to glorify God by uniting students in worship, prayer and justice for spiritual awakening in this generation,” notes the event website.
“Passion is more than music. More than events. Passion is a generation living for His Name. The wave is growing into a global awakening.”
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
